Broadcast receiving apparatus for capturing broadcast signal and method thereof

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-106001, filed on Nov. 7, 2005, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to capturing a broadcast signal, and more particularly, to capturing the frame data of a broadcast signal, adjusting a resolution of the captured frame data and then storing the captured frame data.

2. Description of the Related Art

With the development of electronic communication technology, a digital broadcasting system, as well as an analog broadcasting system, has been actively developed and widely used. Accordingly, a combined broadcast receiving apparatus having the capability of receiving both an analog broadcast and a digital broadcast has come into increased use in recent years.

A recently developed broadcast receiving apparatus additionally includes various functions that do not exist in any conventional device. For example, the broadcast receiving apparatus has a function of capturing a broadcast signal. The broadcast signal capturing function refers to a function of capturing an image that a viewer wants to record at the time when the image is displayed and storing the captured still image.

Upon receiving a capture command, the broadcast receiving apparatus records a frame data currently displayed on a screen as it is and stores the same. The frame data is processed from the original broadcast signal data and is scaled to an output resolution. The frame data constitutes one frame. Accordingly, the captured frame data has the same resolution as the output resolution.

However, the conventional broadcast receiving apparatus excessively consumes memory since the frame data is scaled to the output resolution and then captured. For example, if a frame data having a chroma format of 4:4:4 is scaled to an output resolution 1080i and then stored, the broadcast receiving apparatus takes approximately 5.93MB of memory. Accordingly, the broadcast receiving apparatus requires a high capacity memory.

In an attempt to reduce memory consumption, the captured frame data is uniformly down-scaled and stored. In this case, however, the quality of image may deteriorate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention is to provide a broadcast receiving apparatus, which down-scales a frame data captured from a received broadcast signal if an input resolution is lower than an output resolution and thereby can reduce memory consumption without causing image degradation.

The above aspect is achieved by providing a broadcast receiving apparatus, including a signal processor that receives broadcast signals and process the broadcast signals, a controller that captures a certain frame data from the broadcast signals processed by the signal processor, checks an input resolution of the broadcast signals, and decides whether to perform a down-scaling with respect to the captured frame data, a down-scaler that down-scales the frame data which is decided by the controller to be down-scaled, and a storage unit that stores the down-scaled frame data.

The broadcast receiving apparatus may further include a scaler that scales the broadcast signals processed by the signal processor to an output resolution, and a frame buffer that stores the scaled broadcast signals in sequence. In this case, the controller may capture a certain frame data from the broadcast signals stored in the frame buffer.

The controller may receive the input resolution from the signal processor and compare the input resolution with the output resolution, and if the input resolution is lower than the output resolution, the controller controls the down-scaler to down-scale the captured frame data to the input resolution.

If the input resolution is higher than the output resolution, the controller may store the captured frame data in the storage unit without down-scaling it.

The signal processor may include a digital receiver that receives digital broadcast signals, a digital signal processor that processes the digital broadcast signals, detects an input resolution of the digital broadcast signals, and transmits the detected input resolution to the controller, an analog receiver that receives analog broadcast signals, and an analog signal processor that processes the analog broadcast signals, detects an input resolution of the analog broadcast signals, and transmits the detected input resolution to the controller. Accordingly, both of analog broadcast signals and digital broadcast signals can be captured.

The broadcast receiving apparatus may further include an input unit that inputs a capture command with respect to the broadcast signals, and the controller may capture a frame data corresponding to a point of time when the capture command is input, from the frame buffer, and decide whether to down-scale the captured frame data.

Another aspect of the present invention is also achieved by providing a method for capturing a broadcast signal, including (a) receiving broadcast signals and detecting an input resolution, (b) capturing a certain frame data from the broadcast signals, (c) checking an input resolution of the broadcast signals and deciding whether to perform a down-scaling with respect to the captured frame data, (d) if the down-scaling is decided to be performed, down-scaling the captured frame data, and (e) storing the down-scaled frame data to a predetermined storage unit.

The method may further include processing the received broadcast signals, scaling the processed broadcast signals to an output resolution, and storing the scaled broadcast signals in a frame buffer in sequence.

The operation (c) may include comparing the input resolution with the output resolution, and if the input resolution is lower than the output resolution, deciding to perform a down-scaling with respect to the captured frame data, and if the input resolution is higher than the output resolution, deciding not to perform a down-scaling.

The method may further include storing the captured frame data in the storage unit without down-scaling it if the down-scaling is not decided to be performed with respect to the captured frame data.

The operation (a) may receive either an analog broadcast signal or a digital broadcast signal and detect an input resolution of the received broadcast signal.

If a capture command is input, the operation (b) may capture a frame data corresponding to a point of time when the capture command is input, from the frame data of the broadcast signals stored in the frame buffer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects of the present invention will become more apparent by describing exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a block diagram illustrating a broadcast receiving apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a block diagram illustrating a broadcast receiving apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a flowchart illustrating a method for capturing a broadcast signal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a flowchart illustrating the method for capturing a broadcast signal of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> in detail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a view illustrating a broadcast receiving apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, the broadcast receiving apparatus comprises a signal processor <b>110</b>, a controller <b>120</b>, a down-scaler <b>130</b>, and a storage unit <b>140</b>.

The signal processor <b>110</b> receives and processes broadcast signals. The signal processor <b>110</b> detects an input resolution of the broadcast signals and transmits it to the controller <b>120</b>.

The controller <b>120</b> functions to capture a certain frame data from the broadcast signals which are processed by the signal processor <b>110</b>. Also, the controller <b>120</b> compares the input resolution provided by the signal processor <b>110</b> with an output resolution of the broadcast receiving apparatus to decide whether to perform a down-scaling operation. More specifically, if the input resolution is lower than the output resolution, the controller <b>120</b> decides to perform a down-scaling operation, and otherwise, the controller <b>120</b> decides not to perform a down-scaling operation.

The down-scaler <b>130</b> down-scales the captured frame data which is decided by the controller <b>120</b> to be down-scaled. More specifically, the down-scaling operation is performed by removing pixels in a certain area, or removing a pixel having a value such that a pixel value difference between the pixel and its neighboring pixel is less than a predetermined threshold. Accordingly, the resolution of the captured frame data is adjusted to the input resolution.

The storage unit <b>140</b> stores the down-scaled frame data, and accordingly, can reduce consumption of capacity of the storage unit <b>140</b>.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a block diagram illustrating a broadcast receiving apparatus according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, the broadcast receiving apparatus comprises a signal processor <b>210</b>, a scaler <b>220</b>, a frame buffer <b>230</b>, a controller <b>240</b>, a down-scaler <b>250</b>, a storage unit <b>260</b>, and an input unit <b>270</b>.

The signal processor <b>210</b> comprises a digital receiver <b>211</b>, a digital signal processor <b>212</b>, an analog receiver <b>213</b>, and an analog signal processor <b>214</b>. The digital receiver <b>211</b> receives a digital signal and transmits it to the digital signal processor <b>212</b>. The digital signal processor <b>212</b> performs a signal-processing such as decoding and multiplexing with respect to the digital signal and outputs the processed signal to the scaler <b>220</b>. The digital signal processor <b>212</b> also detects input resolution information recorded on an elementary stream (ES) of the digital signal and transmits the detected input resolution information to the controller <b>240</b>.

The analog receiver <b>213</b> receives an analog signal and transmits it to the analog signal processor <b>214</b>. The analog signal processor <b>214</b> performs a signal processing such as analog to digital (AD) converting with respect to the analog signal and outputs the processed signal to the scaler <b>220</b>. In this case, the analog signal processor <b>214</b> detects an input resolution by detecting the number of pixels between horizontal sync signals of the analog signal and the number of lines between vertical sync signals. The detected input resolution information is transmitted to the controller <b>240</b>.

The scaler <b>220</b> scales the broadcast signals that are processed by the digital signal processor <b>212</b> and the analog signal processor <b>214</b>. More specifically, the scaler <b>220</b> scales image data of the broadcast signals to an output resolution. The scaled image data i.e. the scaled broadcast signals are stored in the frame buffer <b>230</b> in sequence.

The controller <b>240</b> decides whether to perform a down-scaling based on the input resolution of the broadcast signals transmitted from the digital signal processor <b>212</b> and the analog signal processor <b>214</b>. More specifically, if the input resolution is lower than an output resolution of the broadcast receiving apparatus as a result of comparison, the controller <b>240</b> decides to perform a down-scaling, and if the input resolution is higher than the output resolution, the controller <b>240</b> decides not to perform a down-scaling.

If the down-scaling is decided to be performed, the controller <b>240</b> captures a frame data stored in the frame buffer <b>230</b> and controls the down-scaler <b>250</b> to down-scale the captured frame data to the output resolution. The down-scaled frame data is stored in the storage unit <b>260</b>. As a result, a waste of storage unit consumption can be prevented.

On the other hand, if the down-scaling is not decided to be performed, the controller <b>240</b> captures the original frame data stored in the frame buffer without down-scaling and controls the storage unit <b>260</b> to store the captured frame data. In other words, a high-resolution broadcast signal is not down-scaled and stored as it is so that an image can be prevented from being degraded.

The input unit <b>270</b> receives a capture command. More specifically, when a user inputs a capture command by using a button provided on a body of the broadcast receiving apparatus or a remote controller, the input unit <b>270</b> informs the controller <b>240</b> of this. The controller <b>240</b> captures a frame data, which is broadcasted at the time when the capture command is input, from the frame buffer <b>230</b>, and down-scales the frame data or stores it in the storage unit <b>260</b> without down-scaling. Accordingly, a picture that a user wants to capture is stored as a still image.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a flowchart illustrating a method for capturing a broadcast signal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, when broadcast signals are received at operation S<b>310</b>, an input resolution of the received broadcast signals is detected at operation S<b>320</b>. In this case, the broadcast signals may be either digital broadcast signals or analog broadcast signals. If the broadcast signals are digital broadcast signals, the input resolution may be read out from an elementary stream (ES), and if the broadcast signals are analog broadcast signals, the input resolution may be calculated by checking a horizontal sync signal and a vertical sync signal.

If a capture command is input, a frame data corresponding to a currently broadcasted picture is captured at operation S<b>330</b>. It is decided whether a down-scaling operation is performed with respect to the captured frame data at operation S<b>340</b>. More specifically, if the input resolution is lower than an output resolution as a result of comparison, the down-scaling is decided to be performed, and if the input resolution is higher than the output resolution, the down-scaling is not decided to be performed.

If the down-scaling is decided to be performed, the captured frame data is down-scaled at operation S<b>350</b> and stored at operation S<b>360</b>. On the other hand, if the down-scaling is not decided to be performed, the captured frame data is stored without being down-scaled at operation S<b>360</b>.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a flowchart illustrating the method for capturing a broadcast signal of <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> in detail. Referring to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, if broadcast signals are received at operation S<b>410</b>, the broadcast signals are processed, for example, are decoded or multiplexed, at operation S<b>420</b>, and are up-scaled to an output resolution at operation S<b>430</b>. The up-scaled data are stored in the frame buffer at operation S<b>440</b> and displayed on a screen in sequence.

When a capture command is input at operation S<b>450</b>, a frame data corresponding to a picture displayed at the time when the capture command is input is captured at operation S<b>460</b>. Then, an input resolution is compared with the output resolution at operation S<b>470</b>.

If the input resolution is lower than the output resolution at operation S<b>480</b>, the captured frame data is down-scaled at operation S<b>490</b> and stored in a certain memory at operation S<b>495</b>. If the input resolution is higher than the output resolution at operation S<b>480</b>, the captured frame data is not down-scaled and directly is stored at operation S<b>490</b>. Accordingly, a user captures a picture that the user wants and stores it as a still image.

According to the present invention as described above, the broadcast receiving apparatus decides whether to perform a down-scaling operation based on the input resolution of the broadcast signal, in capturing a certain frame of the broadcast signal. That is, if a frame data has a low input resolution, the broadcast receiving apparatus down-scales the frame data and then stores it, and if a frame data has a high input resolution, the broadcast receiving apparatus stores the frame data without down-scaling it. As a result, an image can be captured without being degraded and memory consumption can be prevented.

The foregoing embodiments are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.